The chamber's Appropriations Committee is expected on Monday to consider a proposal that lobbyists working the issue say would open up wine and beer sales to convenience and grocery stores, while keeping the state stores intact.

Also on its agenda is another bold reform measure that is equally as controversial. The committee is expected to consider legislation that seeks to put questions on a future election ballot asking voters if they favor downsizing to all three branches of government by eliminating 62 elected offices after the 2020 redistricting.

Neither the latest liquor plan nor all the pieces of the government downsizing constitutional amendment proposals have been the subject of public hearings specifically about them, but at this time of year in the legislative cycle, that often happens.

What the latest liquor reform proposal looks like remained a work in progress over the weekend, so definitive details were impossible to come by at the time of this post. Legislative staffers say several proposals are under consideration.

Attempts to get comments about the proposal from Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre County, on Saturday were unsuccessful by the time of this post.

While proponents say consumers want more convenient beer and wine sales, groups working against the Senate's so-called "privatization-lite" plan say their understanding of the latest proposal would meet that demand but at the same time begin to dismantle privately owned beer distributors and erode sales at state liquor stores.

Lobbyists for those groups, who asked not to be named to preserve their relations with clients, said state stores would continue operating as they do now, selling wine and spirits but take-out wine and beer purchases would be expanded to more outlets.

Convenience and grocery stores would be permitted to sell beer in quantities of up to 18-can beer packages and up to five bottles of wine.

The proposal would allow beer distributors to sell smaller quantities of beer as well, along with devoting 25 percent of their floor space to wine.

Lobbyists said they had heard varying reasons for the timing of this latest attempt to change the way alcohol is sold in the state. But several of them along with legislative staffers suggest that a pending decision by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board on Altoona-based Sheetz's request to sell beer at its Shippensburg store may be at its root.

It's unclear as to why that decision is affecting discussions because other gas stores already have a license to sell beer and other spirits for on-premises consumption.

Aside from Gov. Tom Corbett identifying liquor reform as one of his top priorities even though polls suggest it is not for voters, some suggest Senate action on a liquor plan may also have ties to budget negotiations.

The GOP-controlled House, which last year passed a full-blown privatization plan that would have moved the state out of the liquor business, may be reluctant to support measures that senators want included in the budget without some type of liquor reform, some lobbyists say.

Multiple sources said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, is obstinately refusing to budge on pension and budget issues until he first sees action in the Senate on liquor.

Steve Miskin, Turzai's spokesman, countered that, saying the Majority Leader has not drawn any lines in the sand.

Miskin said: "A way to get this budget done is we need to look at expenditures, we need to look at tax credits we can no longer afford, and privatization needs to be part of the conversation because it brings in revenues."

Miskin said "everyone knows it's going to be a difficult budget" because lawmakers are staring a nearly a $2 billion hole that needs to be filled. He said, "A way to raise money is privatization."

Without question, the bold reform measures on the Senate Appropriations Committee agenda will make its meeting the place to be in the Capitol on Monday afternoon at a time that has yet to be determined.

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